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It was one of those days today. 10 out, 10 in. We ran at 36 patients pretty much all day- which is full. Full, full, full. All the way full. The kind of full that has no beds available for a stat bed or a trauma bed. The kind of full that DEMANDS team work.

Well, guess what today? My work family sees your demands and raises you some awesome!!! 10 admits is ridiculous. But everyone had the help they needed (I think…) and everyone pitched in to help those who needed it.

No one else quite gets it like we do and no one else quite understands the need for teamwork on days like this. There were a lot of people who had gotten their own admits who didn’t need to help me with my 5pm admit. But they did!! (And my 8am admit!!)

We are supportive of each other and ALWAYS have each others backs. No where else like it.

Day 7. Today I am thankful for something I never thought I’d be thankful for.

In August I was forced into a coffee hiatus no thanks to a poorly cleared prolene suture needle all chock full of HIV blood.

With that came 28 days of Truvada and Isentress to kill whatever HIV may it may not have found it’s way into my body. (Suuuuuuuuuuuper low transmission rate. I’m 99.97% sure I’m good.)

With those lovely drugs came nausea, cramping, constipation and a newfound intolerance of coffee.

Those that know me know how much I love my morning Starbucks. This was NOT. GOOD.

Thankfully earlier that summer I had gone to California to visit my BFF from 5th grade and we had tea in the mornings. It wasn’t quite the caffeine jolt of coffee but I was desperate. Not only did the meds mess with my sleep and make my dreams extra vivid but I would spend the nights thinking about my impending AIDS and my starring role in Philadelphia. I was tired!!

The caffeine wasn’t much- but it was enough. Now a little tea and honey are part of my normal morning schedule. A little green, a little earl grey, some warm pumpkin. Cheaper, even at Starbucks. A little more natural. And I hate to say it- a lot more flavorful.

Today I’m thankful for my sushi girls!! It’s a rotating crew with a few different players but the one thing remains- these are some of the best girls ever!!

There is no judgement at the sushi table. One glass of wine, water only, two bottles? No judgement. Three orders of tok fries? No judgement. Flapping edematous lady parts? No judgement. Sometimes it’s deep, personal revelations about life. Sometimes it’s a conversation about why other cars can’t be as roomy and inexpensive as mini vans. Sometimes you run into your bosses bosses boss. Often you drink a lot of wine. If you’re lucky you go to the same sushi place so many times that the staff know you and your “usual” order and make you try new things. But mostly…there are no judgements and you’re with friends.

At least amongst us. If it takes you longer than 90 seconds to open a bottle of wine…be prepared for open judgement. Or get a rabbit. We won’t judge that.

Movember 3: Today I’m thankful for my Layla. We spent the day pretty much laying on the couch while I was reading or watching a movie or finishing a wreath for Baby Campbell Grace. She just shared the couch with me and put her little pointy head (that’s how you know that dogs are smart, btdubs) on my leg and chilled with me all day. Every now and then she’d wander into the guest room to lay on the bed there which has become her new perch but she would always come out to check on me if she thought she heard me move around too much.

She’s my little fur baby that I get to talk to so I’m not talking to myself all the time. Of course, by little I mean not small at all. She’s 70+ pounds of shedding hair and gassy intestines. The girl can clear a room!!

I also really appreciate that she’s totally judgey like I am. Some days I’ll be trying some new recipe or craft or dance move (twerking???? Not for me) and she looks at me and I can tell what she’s thinking is something along the lines of “Oh, honey. No.”

Plus, she only barks when she hears something out of the ordinary and hasn’t chewed a shoe since the first month I had her almost 5 years ago.

She’ll be 5 in December and she’s never allowed to die. She and I have discussed this. It’s agreed upon. Eternal life for Layla Marie Frederick.

So day 1 I find myself to be thankful for a car that runs well and doesn’t require prayer to start up. I hit up the Hobby Lobby on my usual craft supply run and while I was getting myself and my purchases into my car I noticed the woman in the car across from mine starting her car over and over and over again until it finally sputtered to a start. I could see the desperation on her face and the relief when that rattly old minivan engine finally turned over. I’ve never had to feel that kind of desperation mostly because I’ve had such a blessed life but the look of relief I saw made it easy to imagine- it was literally written all over the woman’s face.

The thankfulness for the car that starts of course leads to a long line of thanks for the job that helps me pay the car payments and maintenance and gas, the education that got me the job and the parents that financed the education so I could get the job that makes the money that pays for the car that always starts.

But that’s awful complicated for day one…so for day one, I saw that I’m thankful for a car that starts. Plus…when it’s clean, it sparkles black glitter in the sunshine.